Dear Member of Congress:

The undersigned companies and trade associations, collectively employing tens of millions of American workers, write to express our concerns with the international tax provisions as proposed in the Obama Administration’s budget for FY 2011.

Once again, the Administration has proposed to fundamentally rewrite some of the basic rules of international taxation – rules that have been in existence for nearly 100 years – in a manner that would severely disadvantage American companies and make U.S. workers less secure.

We support the President’s call to double U.S. exports over the next five years as a way to create two million new American jobs. However, the Administration’s budget proposal would impose punitive taxes on the very employers that are in the best position to help accomplish this worthy goal.

The President’s budget would amount to a $122 billion tax increase on worldwide American companies over the next ten years. While some of the particulars have changed from last year’s tax proposal, the bottom line impact on worldwide American companies remains the same: The proposals would significantly reduce the ability of worldwide American companies to compete in markets both here at home and abroad.

The President has acknowledged that “the true engine of job creation in this country will always be America's businesses…” Again, he is right. But with 95 percent of the world’s consumers living outside of our borders, our businesses must look abroad if we are to expand sales, increase exports, grow at home, and create quality new American jobs.

• Worldwide American companies are responsible for nearly half of all U.S. exports – $558.6 billion in 2007. U.S. parent companies alone exported $515.4 billion in goods in 2007, 45 percent of all U.S. merchandise exports.
  
• Small and medium sized U.S. businesses are suppliers to worldwide American companies and are the direct beneficiaries of increased international growth.

American companies with worldwide operations directly employ 22 million American workers and support an additional 41 million U.S. jobs through their supply chain and through the purchases of goods and services by their employees. A steep corporate tax hike on worldwide American companies will hinder our ability to protect and create American jobs and will slow our nation’s economic recovery.

To keep good jobs and decent wages here in America, and spur the creation of quality new U.S. jobs, Congress must ensure that the U.S. tax code keeps worldwide American companies competitive.

Sincerely,

[Companies and associations in alphabetical order]